Surviving The Game As A Barbarian Episode 134

Episode 134 Team Play (4)

We’re lost in a maze.

There are no breadcrumbs or threads to guide us, but that’s OK.

We had Rotmiller with us.

“Hold on, just in case, I’ll leave another mark here.” 

At one point I thought, what’s the point of a scout in a place where even they could get lost…But that was all my arrogance.

Rotmiller, who had worked his way up from the bottom, was truly a man of many talents.

“May I see the map?”

“Of course.” I replied

He had created a map based on our path.

Not a rough sketch, but a detailed one, reminiscent of a mini-map.

He’d done it in about 10 minutes, pausing only to scribble at it.

“Give it here. The map needs to be updated.”

“Uh, Take it.”

Watching Rotmiller smoothly move his pen across the map was always fascinating, but I no longer asked how it was possible.

I had already asked before.

[This isn’t too complicated; just walking is enough to memorize it. For measuring distances, I just count my steps and mark it accordingly.]

Map making and observation were his strongest areas, honed over years in the first-floor crystal cave. 

I didn’t realize he had such a talent.

Moreover, I felt pity for him.

It was more a result of effort than natural talent, as he naturally acquired it due to a lack of innate ability.

“Sorry for taking your time. Let’s move on.”

After pausing for about 30 seconds, we continued walking through the dark maze.

Rotmiller followed closely behind, now holding a longsword instead of a crossbow.

[With this, I should be able to hold off at least one enemy.]

Rotmiller, having improved his abilities, began to actively participate in battles, as higher-ranking scouts often do, taking on more than just the role of a scout.

“This time it’s your turn.”

Soon after Rotmiller‘s warning, thanks to his keen sense of smell, four Baikundus appeared in front of us.

Four level 6 monsters were a scale we hadn’t encountered on the 4th floor, but…

No one was particularly tense.

We had Dwalki with us.

Whoosh!

The moment the monsters appeared, an ‘Enhanced Ice Spear’ was launched. But this time, it was different.

There are two ice spears, each several times stronger than it was before.

‘I never expected him to be capable of double casting.’

When I realized this, I felt a bit of self-reproach.

Despite having spent months together, I hardly knew them at all.

‘Shit.’

Though his magical power was abnormally low.

Dwalky’s talent for magic was significant.

He was capable of double casting and using additional support magic.

[Leor Wuerv Dwalki has cast Level 8 support magic [Orbit Adjustment].」

Without needing to step aside to make space, the ice spears flew over our heads like cannonballs from afar.

Boom!

Before the battle even began, two of the level 6 monsters were obliterated.

Thus…

“Nyah, Let’s finish this quickly and move on. This time, one of them will be taken care of by Rotmiller and me.”

While I took on one monster.

Misha and Rotmiller teamed up to take on another.

By the time Misha had defeated one,

Whoosh!

Once again, Dwalki completed his chant, and his ice spear shattered the skull of the Baikundus that was pounding on me. 

The entire ordeal took about 4 minutes.

“Bjorn, what are you doing? Why aren’t you moving on?”.

“Ho ho ho, don’t worry about what might appear. Whatever it is, I, Leol Warb Dwalki, will take care of it.”

Dwalki’s back to being a jerk.

***

Guardian of Balance.

Originally, this field effect benefits mages the most.

Because mages cannot consume essences.

Inevitably, their main stat, magic power, is bound to be inflated.

But…

‘There’s a limit to everything.’ I had never seen an extreme case like Dwalki before.

However, upon closer examination, the change was understandable.

The mages I used to carry around in the game were all talent-loaded, with high magic-related stats.

Unlike our halfling mage, Dwalki.

“It really is a mysterious feeling. Is it like all his shackles have been released?”

Dwalki is human.

And he has a physique that’s far from athletic.

Moreover, with magic power that’s not just average but below the bottom…

“He’s almost three times as powerful as us in terms of stats.

If our entire team were human, it might have been different.

But me, Misha, and that dwarf.

Three members of our team belong to races with inherently high base stats.

Rotmiller?

He benefited, but not nearly to the extent of Dwalki.

After all, he’s a veteran who’s fully consumed four essences.

“…So it turns out that our mage ended up hogging all the stats.”

After observing today, I’ve completed my analysis of the team’s strength.

The biggest loss was mine, but…

‘Could things have gone any smoother?’

As a whole, the team has become at least twice as strong.

[Dungeon & Stone] is a team-based combat game, after all.

It is most efficient when everyone can play their part rather than just one person standing out.

It’s a bit bitter, but…

That’s why I wanted to leave the halfling team.

‘Is this the first and last proper team play?’

Rotmiller and Dwalki.

Today, I was able to see aspects of them that I hadn’t seen before.

But nothing changes.

With a lot of effort and luck, it’s possible for them to reach today’s level.

However…

‘It would take years.’

And that would probably be the final point of their growth.

This makes their flaws all too clear.

Rotmiller?

His combat power can be filled by feeding him essences.

But from the 5th floor onwards, if I want to play my way, I need a scout with ‘Explorer’ abilities.

Dwalki?

Double casting or whatever, in the end, the biggest quality of a mage is the magical power stat.

That’s why the Mage Tower wouldn’t have accepted him.

It’s harsh, but…

Compared to the Mage Tower’s standards, Dwalki’s talent wasn’t particularly special.

As I followed this line of thought, suddenly my heart felt cold.

Not just feeling cold, but actually.

「Your character has taken cold damage.」

A chill that penetrated beyond the skin to the bones.

Coming to my senses, I saw Misha exhaling.

“Nyah, Bjorn!! How long are you going to ignore me!!”

“Ah, what did you say?”

“What do you mean what did I say! I said everyone’s going to sleep now, so make sure you keep watch properly, Nyah!”

After shoving a heartfelt punch into my chest in anger, Misha, perhaps feeling a bit worried, asked in a gentler voice.

“… are you okay?”

“I’m fine. It’s still chilly, but it doesn’t hurt.”

I genuinely tilted my head, puzzled

“But Why did you Ask?”

“Nyah. It’s hard to explain with words but… Ah! If I had to compare, it’s similar to the expression you made when I told you to eat a carrot.”

Uh, that makes it even more confusing.

“Anyway, go to sleep. I’ll take my watch seriously, so don’t worry.”

“Nyah, okay.”

Misha then returned to her spot and slipped into her sleeping bag.

And the others continued to chat.

“Ugh, today felt particularly exhausting.”

“Haha, that’s understandable. We’ve been dragged into this unknown place and fought off how many level 6 monsters?”

“…Well, it might be odd to say this, but I found it a bit fun. Is this what it feels like to go on an explorer for the first time? Up until now, it’s been different from the explorers I had imagined.”

“Ah, I think I get what you mean.”

“Haha, it felt like becoming an explorer from a story.”

A few words shared before ending the day, lying down. 

Of course, the conversation wasn’t long since it was time to rest.

“Nyah,  Dwalki, you were really amazing today.”

“Well, it’s not like I did something great on my own. Without having to conserve mana or calculate spells repeatedly, I just released them. Any mage could have done it.”

“Uh… really? Even if you say that, I don’t really understand. Anyway, good job today, and sleep well, Nyah.”

“Mi, Misha also sleep well.”

The sporadic conversation ended, and silence ensued.

[01:04]

An hour had passed since the start of day 20.

While keeping watch, I reviewed our plan.

“Just a few more hours, and we can get that item. Now, we just need to find the boss room.”

Given our current strength, a boss battle didn’t seem too daunting.

The only concern was if we were unlucky, we might not find the boss room in time.

“If only we had stayed one more week, we could have gathered everything we needed and left…”

It was at that moment, filled with regret, that I heard a rustling sound.

Turning my head, I saw Dwalki getting up from his sleeping bag.

“Uh, Bjorn…”

“Even if you can’t sleep, try to. Tomorrow is—”

“It’s not that I can’t sleep.”

Huh?

Before I could say anything, Dwalki had fully stood up and approached me, keeping his voice down so as not to wake the others.

“I have something to tell you.”

It seemed it was his turn now, after Rotmiller had come to me yesterday.

“…Go ahead.”

“Do you remember what you said about Misha’s preferences last time?”

“I remember.”

I don’t forget the lies I tell. That way, there are no loopholes later. 

Well, not that it matters now.

“So, what do you want to say?”

As I looked at him intently, Dwalki opened his mouth with a determined look.

“I wanted to ask if what you said was true. But now, thinking it over, whether it’s true or not doesn’t matter.”

Dwalki’s voice was different from usual. There was no tremor, and his gaze was firm.

“Her preferences don’t matter. It would be cowardly to seek sincerity without showing my true self.”

“…What do you mean?”

“You know, don’t you? That I’ve been secretly harboring feelings for her.”

I wished he had waited until we returned to the city to say this—

“If we safely return to the city—”

“Stop.”

I cut off Dwarki urgently. Thinking something and saying it out loud are very different things.

But perhaps he misunderstood my genuine concern.

“So, Bjorn, you too…”

Dwarlki bit his lip, then shook his head as if to clear his thoughts, and continued with a more resolute voice than ever.

“Nevertheless, nothing changes.”

“Stop talking. I understand what misunderstanding you’re—”

“When we return to the city, I will confess my feelings.”

No, that’s like setting a flag.

‘Shit’

Suddenly, I started feeling as anxious as when I had met Hans.

***

“That’s all I wanted to say. I’ll be going now.”

After that, Dwalki turned around and buried himself in his sleeping bag, soon letting out light snores. I worried that this conversation might cost me precious rest, but it seems today’s journey was tiring enough for him.

‘…But proposing isn’t the same as confessing, so maybe it’s alright?’

I tried to dismiss my worries and focused on my watch.

Two hours passed, and after waking the dwarf for his turn, I lay down to rest.

When I opened my eyes again,

[05:07]

It was time to depart.

Tonight, we decided to have only four hours of watch, with just the dwarf and me taking turns.

“Both of you must be tired, thanks for your hard work.”

“Haha, can’t help it. Not much time left now.”

“Tomorrow it’s me and Rotmiller’s turn, so just hang in there a bit longer today and rest up later.”

After a quick cleanup of the camp, we resumed our journey.

“As Bjorn said, it seems we’ve reached the outskirts of the maze, so from now on, we’ll follow this wall in one direction.”

The corner of the Larkaz maze, a square structure.

Our objective was to defeat a mid-boss and obtain hidden rewards. Which of the four types of mid-bosses we would encounter was something even I didn’t know.

It was always random in the game too.

‘Really, with our current strength, we should easily defeat any of them. Except for that one, all their weaknesses are quite clear’

[Baaaa-!!!]

We continued to eliminate countless Baikunduses today, adding to the hundreds we had already defeated.

There was still no sign of essences appearing, but…

We amassed a considerable amount of magic stones.

“Hahaha! Just the magic stones alone will fetch a nice sum, won’t they?”

Indeed, this was the maze’s second reward. There’s no other place on the 5th floor where level 6 monsters of a single type are so easily encountered. If it were the 4th floor, encountering twenty in a day would have been tough.

“…A dead end?”

After about 12 hours of travel, we reached our destination, a corner of the maze.

“Nyah, there’s nothing here?”

“It could be in a different direction. Or perhaps in a completely unexpected location.”

While the group made their comments, Rotmiller closely examined the wall, muttering something.

“…Wait a moment, something’s off here.”

I was honestly surprised.

Was it due to the intuition attached to the mimic’s essence? Or just this man’s observational skills?

Click, whirrr.

Touching something, the wall slid aside, revealing a hidden space.

“Nyah, a door opened.”

“It could be dangerous, everyone step back!”

The dwarf rushed forward, raising his shield, and I quickly took my place beside him.

Of course, no monster jumped out at us.

“…Nothing’s coming out?”

Well, it wasn’t that kind of place.

The space inside the wall was obscured by darkness, making it impossible to see with the naked eye.

Not that it mattered to me.

“I’ll lead.”

“Bjorn! It could be dangerous!”

“It’s fine. That’s my role.”

With a tank-worthy declaration, I stepped inside, and torches on the walls lit up simultaneously, illuminating the interior.

I quickly surveyed the surroundings.

“This is…”

A stone chamber, about 30 square meters in size.

A magic circle with geometric patterns drawn on the floor.

And atop it, a pole with a goat’s head impaled on it.

“Nyah, Something about this place feels… off.”

“There’s no portal in sight. Can’t we just leave?”

Misha and Dwarlki murmured, feeling uneasy, but I couldn’t help but smile secretly.

They probably don’t know.

Compared to the other rooms, this one’s easy.

‘Now that we’ve stumbled upon this, finding the boss room will be a piece of cake. As for the method, it seems giving Rotmiller subtle hints like before will do…’

That eased my mind.

Defeating the boss might be a bit challenging, but there was also the possibility of ending the exploration without even getting a glimpse of the boss due to bad luck.

‘Now, how do I summon it? Doing it directly might seem suspicious.’

 

I was in the midst of this pleasant dilemma when…

“Huh?”

“…Could it be, you too?”

Everyone, including me, flinched simultaneously. It seems I wasn’t the only one who felt the change.

“What’s happening? My magical power has increased tremendously.”

“Me, me too. What’s happening to my body?”

The pressure from the heavy armor that had been slightly burdensome due to decreased strength vanished. It felt as though I was wearing styrofoam armor for cosplay.

Why did this happen?

The moment I realized the truth, curses flew out of my mouth.

‘Fuck…’

A surge of vitality burst throughout my body.

A level of change I couldn’t have felt even if I had used [Gigantification].

I already knew the reason for this change.

“Rotmiller.”

“…It seems you’re thinking the same as me.”

The 4th floor’s hidden field, the Larkaz Maze.

Another group of explorers had entered.

‘The group could be anywhere from one to five’

Logically, the likelihood that it’s a team of five is highest, but it’s still too early to conclude.

All possibilities remain open.

However…

There’s at least one certainty.

Whether it’s him or them.

「Field Effect – Guardian of Balance is updated.」

「The stats of the entrants are adjusted evenly.」

They are incredibly strong.